After adopting a FEMA floodplain ordinance, Graham County rejected the document in 2011. One reason given was that only nine of the county’s 110 miles of waterways were surveyed, and errors were found in the collected data. Following that, people in mobile homes could not participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, and third-party rates, higher than mortgages, were forcing residents into foreclosure. This caused the commissioners to reconsider their reconsideration, but Hurricane Sandy has tied up FEMA personnel so badly, only now is the agency willing to tell the county what nitnoids in their ordinance must be changed before the pertinent streams of federal funds can start flowing.
by Leslee Kulba
Wild West blogger